By Rashod D. Ollison , Sun pop music critic|July 20, 2008
Just a few months ago, Baltimore and the rest of America were caught up in the craze over tween queen Hannah Montana.
At the sold-out 1st Mariner Arena, some parents showed up at ticket windows begging, pleading and even weeping to get their family in to see the wholesome pop star. That blockbuster tour was followed with a 3-D movie version that raked in more than $35 million and was the top movie in the country despite a limited release.
But today, the fascination over Hannah Montana, the real-life Miley Ray Cyrus, has noticeably cooled.
The TV show's ratings are down, the pop star is aiming to be more Cyrus than Montana, and fellow Disney stars such as the Jonas Brothers have suddenly eclipsed her as pop powerhouses.
No surprise in the world of tween pop. In the struggling recording industry, it's one of the last bastions of profits and mass-market appeal, but it's also the most unforgiving.
"It's all a rather ruthless, well-oiled machine that Disney operates very well," says Marian Salzman, who follows pop culture trends for the marketing firm Porter Novelli. "But because there's this small window of time for these tween acts, Disney keeps pumping them out."
On Tuesday, Cyrus will release her first album without the Hannah Montana moniker. It's aptly titled Breakaway. But many of her fickle fans have already moved on.
It will be the Jonas Brothers, not her, packing the 1st Mariner Arena for a concert next month.
"I'm pretty sure her voice has changed," says Kathleen Boidy, 12, of Glen Burnie, "because in some of her concerts she sounded really bad. The Jonas Brothers - all of their songs are really big."
Even as Hannah Montana's appeal wanes, the franchise remains a force to be reckoned with. The almost-billion-dollar empire includes CDs, movies, video games, school supplies and even furniture.
But Disney, which has a long history of grooming pop stars such as Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, isn't one to rest.
"Disney has written the blueprint for the tween market," says Billy Johnson Jr., senior program director at Yahoo! Music. "What is so genius about what Disney does is that they have a machine that maximizes the full extent of the talent of their stars.
"They can showcase their acting on their television shows. They can exploit their singing abilities on their radio stations and record labels. The Jonas Brothers are an even better success story."
